Cain and AbelThe Graves/Jung model is an interpretative method that attempts to explain a variety of things on a variety of levels. It explains how individuals progress, how societies progress, how theories progress, how we view others, and how others view us; just to name a few. I will be applying the theory to analyze the story of Cain and Abel found in the fourth chapter of Genesis, in the Bible. I will be interpreting the three main characters to assess what level of the model they are functioning in.

We meet the main characters of the story in the first two verses. Cain is Abel’s older brother and we learn of their occupations, “Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. Their nature of their occupations could already be setting up the idea that Abel is physically small and Cain is physically larger. In the Hebrew world, shepherds are historically the youngest children and often girls. Later in the Bible, there is a mirror of this in 1st Samuel. it is King David (portrayed as the smallest amongst his brothers) who is also a shepherd. Typically anyone who “works the land” is going to have to be physically fit, which leads to more capabilities of physical violence. The author may have put these important details in to start to paint the picture of “helpless innocent Abel” and “big bully Cain”. This is just the beginning of why this is a Level 3 story of competitive, survival-of-the-fittest type interactions.

Even though the characters might be functioning at the level 3, I think the society they are living in is at least level four. We see this in verses three and five when the third main character is introduced, “the Lord”. The fact that Cain and Abel’s god needs a offering implies that at some point someone said or wrote that he needed one. They wouldn’t just do that if it were not made clear by society that offerings were expected. This is all fitting with Level four. This also implies that the god is at least a level four god....

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Cain and Abel is the story of the second two people on earth. They are the sons of Adam and Eve. In the story (of their life) Cain is the older brother, he is a crop farmer. Abel the younger of two is a sheep herder. Cain was the first person born on the planet as well as the first murderer. Abel is the first brother, but is the first...

...of doing all kinds of evil to his fellow man. This is clearly seen in the story of Cain and Abel (Genesis 4: 1-16). Cain was jealous of Abel because Abel’s sacrifice was accepted by God and Cain’s wasn’t. The jealousy led to Cain committing murder. The story teaches us a lot about the nature of God. God knows human thoughts and motives. He punishes fairly and cares for the innocent and also, like in the case of...

...is the significance and nature of Cain and Abel’s gifts?
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v.3 (AKJV) And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to the LORD.
v.4 (AKJV) And Abel, he also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect to Abel and to his offering:
v.5 (AKJV) But to Cain and to...

...most infamous is that of Cain and Abel. But after centuries of being communicated away from the explicit text, the story of Cain and Abel has been distorted to characterize its subjects to moralistic extremes.
The notoriety of Cain and Abel can be attributed to its rather severe content. In no more than sixteen verses, the story of Cain and Abel is relayed with unforgiving...

...The Story of Cain and Abel (Gen 4: 1-16)
Then Adam had intercourse with his wife Eve, and Eve became pregnant. She bore a son and said “By the Lord’s Help I have gotten a son.” So she named him Cain, later she gave birth to another son, Abel. Abel became a shepherd, but Cain grew up to be a Farmer. After some time Cain brought some of his harvest to the Lord and gave it as an offering to the...

...she named Cain. Soon after, she has a second son, Abel. Even so, there is imminent trouble lingering for the boys. Cain grows up to be farmer, while Abel becomes a shepherd. Both of the sons frequently hand up offerings to their lord; Cain giving crops and Abel giving livestock. God however favors Abel’s offerings over Cain’s offerings. “So Cain was very angry and his countenance fell.” (Genesis...

...Cain Summary
Summary (Masterplots, Fourth Edition)
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While Adam, Eve, Abel, Zillah, and Adah pray to God, Cain stands sullenly by and complains that he has nothing to pray for because he had lost immortality when Eve ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge. He cannot understand why, if knowledge and life are good, his mother’s deed has been deemed a deadly sin. Abel, Adah, and Zillah urge him to cast...

...Cain and His Descendants
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The Bible tells us that Cain and Abel were not the only descendants of Adam and Eve. Genesis 5:4 says that later Adam begot more sons and daughters. But Cain and Abel stand out from the other descendants because they represent the two manners of life.
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